Introduction

The constitutional framework in each of the United States and the European Union recognizes the importance of the free movement of judgments to a successful economic union. The full faith and credit clause of the U.S. Constitution creates one of the largest markets in the world for the free movement of judgments. In the European Community (EC), the original six member states first agreed in Article 220 of the Treaty of Rome to negotiate toward “the simplification of formalities governing the reciprocal recognition and enforcement of judgments of courts or tribunals and of arbitration awards.” The negotiations under Article 220 led to the Brussels Convention on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments. Consistent with its free-trade agreements with EFTA states and the extended common market under the European Economic Area, this process has been extended to the EFTA states through the similar Lugano Convention.

These measures demonstrate both national and regional acknowledgment that for the free movement of goods, services, capital, and persons to be effective, they must be accompanied by the free movement of judgments. In order for an economic union to function efficiently, a legal judgment – like any other property interest – must not have its value impaired merely by crossing a geographic border within the union, and both the property interest represented by the judgment, and the legal mechanism for enforcing rights in that property interest, must be respected throughout the union.